Significance of Metastable Acceptors in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells in Accelerated Lifetime Testing

The significance of metastable acceptors in Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) solar cells in accelerated lifetime testing has been investigated. Dry heating under light irradiation improves the conversion efficiency of CIGS solar cells at the early stage, which slightly decreases after long-term testing. However, after dry heating in the dark, the conversion efficiency significantly decreases. The net acceptor concentration considerably decreases after dark heating, and the reduction in the number of metastable acceptors results in decreases in open-circuit voltage and fill factor. After heat illumination treatment, the net acceptor concentration increases because of the metastable acceptors in CIGS layers, and the open-circuit voltage and fill factor partly recover. Therefore, the concentrations of metastable acceptors should be controlled by light irradiation or current injection with positive bias to evaluate correctly the degradation rates during accelerated lifetime testing.